Take a cushion. And possibly a hanky. You will be sitting poolside and the concrete bleachers are precisely as firm as they sound; you may also get water in your eyes, hence the hanky (the water will not have come from the pool).

Writer Steve Rodgers had first imagined The Pool would be staged in a conventional theatre “with silk cloth as water in a wash of blue light”. That sort of thing.

Kate Champion, Black Swan State Theatre Company’s Artistic Director, went for the literal approach. She thought a play about people having deeply personal conversations, overcoming fears, facing problems and making connections at a public swimming pool should, in fact, take place at a public swimming pool.

Perched on those bleachers, the audience eavesdrops on private thoughts – transmitted directly through individual headsets – in the incomparably soothing presence of water. It’s a considerable technical achievement. The sound quality under the direction of Tim Collins was impeccable on opening night.

Black Swan State Theatre of Western Australia’s The Pool. Photo © Daniel J Grant

As Champion points out, the local council pool is an egalitarian place. Anyone with a towel...